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Answers by Rudy Rauben (see here for more info); edited by Clay Collins.

[Editor's Note: There's some controversy in the comments about the "No Gurus and No B.S." statement. For more information about our position, see this comment, and this comment below].

About This Guide

Rudy is a good friend of mine who’s been actively meditating for over 20 years. This guide sprang forth from a series of questions I’ve asked him over the course of several months, which is why we’ve kept the Q & A format.  In one case, my question and Rudy’s answer have been placed, verbatim, in the guide.  In most cases, however, clusters of answers have been aggregated, spliced together, etc., and questions have been written to address certain themes that arose during our discussions.  This guide represents less than a 10th of the edited material culled from our conversations.

Index of questions addressed in this guide:

1. Why meditate?
2. Is meditation relevant to the mind like water?
3. How much time should be devoted to a regular meditation practice?
4. What are the first steps if you’re new to meditation?
5. How much importance should a beginner place on diaphragmatic breathing?
6. Too much focus on breathing as a source of stress?
7. Should meditation take on a course of its own, or should it remain a focus on breath?
8. Should meditation be used to focus on goals?
9. Should concentration aids like candles, mantras, etc. be used?
10. Should beginners use a timer?
11. What’s an ideal space for meditation?
12. What are some of the common mistakes made by beginners?
13. Are there any particularly good books on meditation?
14. Steps to take after reading this guide.

1. Let’s start out with a basic question. Why meditate?

The simplest answer would be to gain clarity, peace of mind, health and personal development, but I’m not sure these answers necessarily explain a whole lot in and of themselves. We need to discuss what inhibits clarity and what brings discord to our minds, and what promotes well-being.

We begin meditating by learning to "still" our minds, so our thoughts don’t just run amok. Overly rambunctious thoughts cause a lot more stress, tension and deluding impulses than most people commonly realize; and this in turn has a deleterious effect on mental as well as physical health.

The process of calming the mind and allowing our thoughts to settle out is commonly referred to as "centering." We want to be able to consciously "center" ourselves at will, especially in circumstances when we find mental agitations, erroneous preconceptions, stress or volatile emotions beginning to mount­– influences that interfere with a clear awareness and realistic understanding of the circumstances we find ourselves in. In light of this, meditation is a training program whose purpose is to recognize the way we comport ourselves "internally" (psychologically, emotionally, creatively). In the service of this "tuning the breath" is a very helpful technique.

2. We’ve talked a little bit about “mind like water” in relation to David Allen and Getting Things Done. Would you say that meditation is a means for getting to mind like water regardless of external circumstances? Or does mind like water enter into the picture?

"The mind like water" is the still, centered mind. All of us have had this experience. It happens quite spontaneously and unexpectedly at times. Being out in Nature often induces this. But what we’re talking about here is having that state of mind more reliably, especially when we’re confronted with troubling circumstances. That kind of willful evocation of "mind like water" needs to be trained for; hence meditation practice. It’s not something that you just get by understanding the concept in theory. And it is not something that suddenly comes on all at once. It happens little by little. Sometimes there are major breakthroughs, but they still only bring partial realizations.

3. I know people who spend hours daily practicing Transcendental Meditation. How much time should be devoted to a regular meditation practice?

More regularity with shorter sessions is better than less regularity with longer sessions. Every day for 5 minutes is better than once a week for an hour, but people do need to find their own rhythm with these things. Just remember that repetition– regular practice– is necessary to entrain or "transform" behavior.

Once you get a taste of the vigor and stability obtainable, it keeps you coming back for more. You naturally figure out how much you need to practice to get that, and how often you need to do it in order maintain those benefits.

As a general rule of thumb, I encourage people to start with 3 minutes at a time and gradually add another minute every week. Shoot for 20 minutes or so, but be flexible about it. Don’t be lazy in your practice, but neither be obsessive or too rigid about the “whens,” “wheres” and “for how longs.”

4. What you’ve talked about, being able to center yourself at will, sounds like a very valuable thing. But if you’ve never tried meditation before how do you start?

Begin by focusing as much attention on your breathing as possible.  Bring as much awareness as you can to willing your breathing to slow down, deepen and become more fluid and evenly rhythmic. This then has the effect of causing one’s mental state to become calmer and more lucid.

This kind of focused attention is sometimes referred to as "one pointed-ness":  Your mind is not split among multiple concerns or topics, it is wholly placed only on this singular point of focus.  You’re not thinking about how to make the car payment, about deadlines, about romantic interests or anything else while your practicing this; rather the entirety of your awareness concentrates on how smoothly the breath flows.

Of course, this does not happen immediately.  It takes practice and gradually you get better at it.  After a number of months or years of daily training it becomes habituated.  Once it does you can then successfully proceed to take on other, more challenging problems or techniques, but first you need the mental stability this basic practice affords.  And by then you will be a calmer, more lucid person.

So you train to have nothing in your mind whatsoever (when you consciously want that)–just a clear open, serene place. When a thought arises, you say to it, "go away right now, I’m busy training my mind to be empty (rested); come back later if you’re such an important thought, but give me some peace for a little while please". You just keep on doing that over and over, gently, without ambition or expectation, everyday for 10-20 minute sessions (start with 3 minutes and add a few more as you feel able to without causing too much strain), and eventually you’ll note that those thoughts will go away when you ask them to more and more. This also induces a sense of calm, stimulates creativity and reduces tension. And it strengthens your willpower and ability to concentrate, to stay focused and stay on task (with the things that are truly important to you).

These are the very fundamental procedures that any of the more advanced methods will then always benefit from.

For beginners the simplicity of this can be a big turn-off. Maybe they’d prefer something sexier sounding. This basic practice can seem tedious at first. But it really is key. Maybe we could liken it to practicing musical scales before we can really take on writing or playing music successfully.

5. I’ve looked through meditation guides in the past, and they all seem to mention diaphragmatic breathing. How much importance should a beginner place on this?

Natural, relaxed breathing is more important for the beginner.  If " diaphragmatic,” or "abdominal" breathing feels too "forced" or unnatural then it just becomes another obstacle to cross.  It’s very helpful at more advanced stages, but best not be pursued too ambitiously.

6. As a beginner, hyper-focusing on diaphragmatic breathing techniques during meditation can stress me out, especially when I’m already anxious. I’ve noticed, however, that a simple but single-minded focus on breath effortlessly brings about diaphragmatic breathing.

Exactly. You just make gentle, minor adjustments little by little. You can’t attempt to get there all at once.

And there are other forms of breathing: reverse abdominal breathing, "tortoise breathing," etc., which require even more concentration, and those need to unfold just as naturally as you just expressed.  Then there are these things called "locks" or "bandas" or "pumps" that further refine the effectiveness (in certain applications). These things layer on as one’s experience deepens, much in the same way an artist or musician picks up more nuanced techniques as their experience deepens. There is no benefit in pushing these things before you have enough fundamental experience to really appreciate those nuances.  If you do push their implementation too early you just get confused and frustrated, and, perhaps, disenchanted.

[Editor’s Note: For an explanation of diaphragmatic breathing, see

this.  The video's emphasis on counting off breaths probably isn’t necessary for beginners.

7. Should you let your meditation life take on a course of its own, or should it remain a focus on breath?

The breathwork is just the basic training. Its purpose is to help you learn how to concentrate and instill a calm, lucid state of mind at will. Once you have achieved that, the breathwork becomes second nature and you move onto other issues. Things like chi kung, internal kung fu, and I Ching psychotherapy are all more advanced forms of meditation that take your training into areas of increasing subtlety and empowerment.

8. Should meditation be used to focus on goals?

Goals can often be too ego-driven, so a person should just avoid that all together at first, until they get the centering thing down. The central purpose here is to be less ego-driven, so consider how counter-productive a naive focus on a goal can be. But if your goal is to become more relaxed, more sensitive, or more self-aware, then you’re fine.

9. In my experience, a lot of meditation books encourage you to use mantras, light candles, use music, etc. What do you make of these suggestions?

These things are aids to concentration. As such, so long as they don't prove distracting they can be of help.  But even then they can become crutches: use them, experiment with their efficacy, but also bear in mind they will hamstring you if you come to rely on them to the point where you can't center yourself without them.  You’ll want to practice without them at least as often as you use them, if you even want to use them at all. Just make sure they don’t become crutches.

Some meditation teachers are hard-asses about this stuff, but I'm like "relax... just so long as a person realizes that they can't use training wheels forever" (feeling that this is a more relaxed, and therefore more conducive attitude, than any strict prohibition of supportive tools would be). I use music, earplugs and nothing at all as the mood strikes me. The earplugs are especially good for tuning into one’s breathing (my main purpose in using the plugs is not so much to tune out external sounds).

10. So should beginners use a timer?

Because beginners are more in the basic training mode they require something to help them discipline themselves and gauge their progress against.  A timer is one way.  The duration of a mellow piece of music might be another.  In Zen groups one person may function as a time keeper, banging wooden blocks or a gong of some sort at the set interval.  The length of time it takes for a stick of incense to burn down is another.  Mantras another.  Some of these get rather involved, and I would recommend keeping it as simple as possible.

After a number of years the timing can become almost second nature or instinctive: you get into that "nominded" state, hang out there for a while, take out the trash, tidy up, smell the roses, and then, when you feel like it, you just go "okay, that's enough for now."

11. So what's an ideal space for meditation? I feel like most meditation books start out with the obligatory "find a comfortable chair, in a place without disruptions, etc." Is this necessary?

Paraphrasing Lu Tung-pin:

"When you first begin to practice try to do it at times when you don’t have a lot on your mind. All those thoughts are like wild horses; an experienced handler can round them up and get them under control, but they can be an overwhelming challenge for a beginner. So, to start off with, the fewer wild horses you have to deal with the better. A gentle mood and comfortable state of mind are very conducive, whereas volatile emotions are anything but."

During the day, at work, or in dealing with people, whenever, just remember to try and stay centered. If you wobble off center, breath well, calm yourself and find your way back. There’s no need for anyone but you to know that you’re doing this.

12. What are some of the common mistakes made by beginners?

Trying to do it when you're sleepy is a problem. Hence, mornings are considered a good time– when you're fresh and have yet to be assailed by the day’s events or demands. It's not an absolute requirement, but it does tend to work better for most people. You need to be alert when you’re meditating.

Trying to do too much too soon is a big problem. You have to be patient. You need to be gentle about it– let your experience unfold with minimum pushing and maximum relaxation, with all the joy and humor you can possibly bring to it. Try to be better– just a little more disciplined everyday, little by little. Don’t get punitive with yourself.

I think guided imagery techniques, or a focus on supernatural beings is a big mistake, especially for beginners. This can easily introduce fantasy or delusion.

Also, thinking in terms of "spiritual transcendence" is a big problem: thinking that your body is just a vessel for your "soul" or mind. Many crucial aspects of consciousness and personality are intimately associated with physically being alive. This is not something we should ever look askance upon or try to escape via transcendent "spiritual" visions, fantasies or myths. Keep yourself in the here and now.  So you might then say that religious, repressive or dogmatic preoccupations are going to interfere terribly with any meaningful meditation program.

13. Do you recommend any particular books?

One of the most concise, no-nonsense set of written instructions on meditation I’ve ever encountered occurs under the Meditation hexagram in Carol Anthony’s and Hanna Moog’s version of The I Ching.

There are other books I have personally found useful, but because they employ metaphors that can prove confusing, and would require lengthy expositions, I hesitate to recommend them to beginners or people unfamiliar with the kind of traditional language they employ. As for more modern books on the subject, many of those have their own pitfalls; problems caused by misreading the metaphors of those older sources they inevitably reference. I’d like to demystify these matters rather than further confound the public.

A favorite author of mine on the subject, Liu I-ming, put it this way in 1808, and I think it is still as terribly relevant as ever– something every student needs to bear in mind:

“People of later times did not search out the meaning of the metaphors of the classics, but just stuck to the symbols: Confucians took them to be superstitious nonsense, while Taoists took them in a superficial manner. Later students did not look into the meanings of the code words and did not figure out the intended principles the symbols were meant to represent. In extreme cases, people fixated on the symbols and arbitrarily invented all sorts of practices, getting caught up in sidetracks and deviant techniques. Misinterpreting the terms caused people to take to chemistry, visualization exercises, sexual yoga, energy circulation exercises and quietism in misguided ways. Seeing talk of cultivating life, some thought it referred to doing physical exercises and became preoccupied with superficial form (at the expense of substance). All these errant schools arose, all taking a deer to be a unicorn, or a crow to be a phoenix; not only without benefit, but actually becoming detrimental. Countless people have harmed themselves mentally and physically in this way. Surely this was not the intent of the ancient sages when they evoked images in symbolic language.”

I have my personal preferences, but everybody will find meaning and insight in their own particular ways and places. Jiddu Krishnamurti said "the Truth is a pathless land." It’s crucially important to realize that there is no one set course that we all can reliably follow– no one size fits all “Truth,” as it were. The developmental life process necessitates that each of us find the confidence and wherewithal to learn how and why we need to find our own way– why we need to stop following those who would claim that they know where everybody SHOULD be going, and how everybody SHOULD get there. That kind of mindless following ultimately proves detrimental. It harms the individual and it harms human society.

14. Should I learn more? Where should I go from here?

What you have here is the core practice. You can build off of it when or if you'd like, but you could also do nothing else and still find it fulfilling and developmental. More complexity is not necessarily better. Just practicing the basic centering meditation technique and breathwork is going to be plenty enough to chew on. You could easily spend a few years just doing that really well.

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